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USDA Urged to Immediately Restore Official Grain Inspection Service at Port of Vancouver, Washington

July 31, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 29, 2014) – Citing the “extremely troubling precedent” being set, 22 national, regional and state agricultural producer, commodity and agribusiness organizations, including U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), have urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take immediate action to restore official grain inspection and weighing services at the Port of Vancouver, Washington.

In a recent letter to the Secretary of Agriculture and other key administration officials, the organizations cited a notice by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) stating that it no longer would fulfill its obligation to provide official grain inspection and weighing services at the Port of Vancouver. WSDA had been delegated the responsibility to provide official grain inspection and weighing services at the port by USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).

In the July 1 notice stating that it was suspending official inspection services indefinitely, effective July 7, the director of WSDA’s grain inspection program stated as one of the reasons the belief that the “continued provision of inspection services appears to have been unhelpful in leading to any foreseeable resolution” of the labor dispute.

Several organizations also met last October with GIPSA and other USDA officials to urge that the agency prepare contingency plans to ensure an “immediate and effective” program to continue official services at the port after several service interruptions.

“This issue is of great concern to the wheat farmers in the Pacific Northwest as well as around the country.” Said Paul Penner, NAWG President and wheat farmer from Hillsboro, Kansas. “If Washington state inspectors are unable to perform their duties, then the time has come for federal grain inspectors to step in and do their mandated jobs to get grain flowing out of the port of Vancouver.”

Alan Tracy, President of USW added, “With the wheat harvest season well underway and the importance of exports to our producers, we hope that official services are restored at the Port of Vancouver as quickly as possible.”

“To our knowledge, this latest announcement by a designated state agency declining to provide official services is unprecedented,” the groups wrote in their letter. “We believe WSDA’s actions create an extremely troubling precedent that will cause irreparable damage to the integrity and reliability of the nation’s official grain inspection system.”

The organizations also cited the “uncertainty” already created within the U.S. grain export industry, as well as among U.S. agricultural producers and international buyers of U.S. commodities, regarding potential future disruptions of official services at facilities operating at other U.S. export ports. They said, “in the absence of WSDA’s reliable performance of its duties, FGIS must intervene and make the necessary arrangements to provide the mandatory official (inspection) services.”

Federal law prohibits the export of U.S. grains and oilseeds unless inspected and weighed by official personnel in accordance with the U.S. grain standards. In addition, such exports are required to be accompanied by official certificates showing the grade designation and certified weight, unless the requirement is waived by the Secretary of Agriculture and the grain is not sold or exported by grade. Under the U.S. Grain Standards Act, Congress vested in USDA the responsibility and obligation to provide official inspection services to facilitate efficient and cost-effective marketing of U.S. grains and oilseeds.

“To this point, confidence that the U.S. official grain inspection system will function in a continuous and consistent manner — and not be subject to unwarranted disruptions — has been instrumental in facilitating the ability of U.S. farmers and agribusinesses to reliably serve foreign customers and remain competitive in world markets,” the groups wrote.

National organizations signing the letter to Vilsack were: Agricultural Retailers Association; American Farm Bureau Federation; American Soybean Association; National Association of Wheat Growers; National Corn Growers Association; National Grain and Feed Association; National Oilseed Processors Association; North American Export Grain Association; Transportation, Elevator and Grain Merchants Association; U.S. Grains Council; U.S. Soybean Export Council; and U.S. Wheat Associates.